“If you could recommend just one habit that someone should start doing to eat, and live, healthier, what would that habit be?”

That’s the question I posed to a group of my colleagues – registered dietitians and nutritionists – in the trenches coaching and counseling people in the science, and art, of eating better. Rather than focusing on huge overhauls that may not be sustainable (i.e. no carbs, no gluten, no dairy, no alcohol, etc.), I wanted to look for keystone eating habit changes that could have a butterfly effect through the rest of your daily routine and get you the health and fitness results you want.

I was amazed — within 24 hours I had over 60 responses. As I began sorting through the feedback, I realized that many of the recommendations fell into a seven broader categories, which I’ll be summarizing and presenting in two posts.

• “It’s so helpful to plan a menu for the week in advance and then organize your shopping list and prep in advance…It makes such a difference in eating healthier and more home-cooked food.” – Jessica Fishman Levinson, MS, RD, CDN

• Eat at home more often, with people. Prepare one more home-cooked meal each week. – multiple experts

Exercise and lifestyle improvements

• Whether it’s 10, 15 or 30 minutes, “Make an appointment with yourself daily to move, just like a shower or a meal.” – Elisa Zied, MS, RD, CDN

• Exercise one more day per week. — multiple experts

• Whenever possible, choose to walk or take the stairs. — multiple experts

• Get some sleep! The stress on the body from being sleep-deprived can lead to overeating and fat retention. — multiple experts

Review the habit changes recommended here, choose the one that works best for you and give it a shot for three to four weeks. Research shows it takes about that long for a new action to become a sustained habit. If one recommendation doesn’t work for you, try another one; different approaches work for different people. Or hang tight for next month’s post for the other three categories!Do you have another habit to share? Tell us!